BUCKINGHAM - Just 38, Michael Earl Gaumer says he feels like an old man. He doesn't look old, with short brown hair and a trimmed beard with a few silvery whiskers poking out from his unlined face. He is 5-foot-10, solidly built from working out a few times a week, the tattoos on his arms and chest peeking out from the cuffs and neckline of his blue collared shirt. "I definitely don't feel 17," Gaumer says. Seventeen. In a way time stopped for Gaumer at the age of 17. Specifically the night of June 7, 1992, when he became known as a teen killer, playing a part in what locals say is very likely the most notorious crime in Gloucester County history.

GLOUCESTER - Gloucester County residents are being challenged this month to get out and experience the community from a different perspective. Gloucester's Planning and Zoning Department, along with the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department and the library, are hosting a Community Ambassador Challenge in celebration of National Community Planning Month. "The ultimate purpose [of the challenge] is really just to get people talking and engaged about the community," said Emily Gibson, senior comprehensive planner.

A teenage killer convicted in the 1992 slayings of her father and sister in Gloucester County has been denied parole, meaning she will remain imprisoned at least until her next hearing before the Virginia Parole Board in 2016. Jennifer C. Kszepka, 37, had a hearing before the Virginia Parole Board on Aug. 28, said Joan Wade, the five-member panel's administrator. The board denied Kszepka's parole on Sept. 16, citing her history of violence and the serious nature and circumstances of the offenses, while also concluding she was a risk to the community.

Gloucester On George Washington Memorial Highway On Sept. 27 at 3:24 p.m., a traffic stop occurred in the area of George Washington Memorial Highway and Lemons Loop for an expired registration that resulted in the driver, Jacqueline M. Ferreiro, 56, of Gloucester, issued summons for driving suspended, expired registration and dangling objects- obstruction of view. In the 8700 block of Guinea Road On Sept. 27, a report of intoxicated female at the Guinea Jubilee was made.

Gloucester On George Washington Memorial Highway On Sept. 27 at 3:24 p.m., a traffic stop occurred in the area of George Washington Memorial Highway and Lemons Loop for an expired registration that resulted in the driver, Jacqueline M. Ferreiro, 56, of Gloucester, issued summons for driving suspended, expired registration and dangling objects- obstruction of view. In the 8700 block of Guinea Road On Sept. 27, a report of intoxicated female at the Guinea Jubilee was made.

GLOUCESTER — A new county phone system using voice over internet protocol is expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars and replace antiquated land lines. Each phone line that is required for county business has a cost, with the new system allowing access to additional features the county has to pay for with its traditional phone system, said Brian Burchett, applications project manager for the county. The voice over internet protocol offers "several enhancements that will benefit both the public and county staff," Burchett said.

GLOUCESTER — True to their campaign pledges to help make Gloucester County more business friendly, Bob "JJ" Orth and Ashley Chriscoe drew local business leaders and county officials to a forum earlier this week, where the group discussed streamlining permit and zoning processes. Orth said the group came up with of 31 items that County Administrator Brenda Garton and other county staff can consider changing. The items are "all over the map," Orth said, and range from changing zoning along Route 17 to allow more businesses to be located there rather than having to go through a time-consuming and costly rezoning process, to the high costs of adding turn lanes onto the highway when new businesses or developments are built.

Gloucester County has scheduled these government meetings and events for June. Meeting dates and times are subject to change. For information, contact the Gloucester Department of Community Education at 693-5730. Meetings Gloucester Board of Supervisors. Regular Meeting, 7 p.m., Tuesday, Colonial Courthouse. Agenda: public hearing on a rezoning request and tribute to the William Belvin Family. Gloucester Resource Council. 10 a.m., Wednesday, Gloucester Library Community Room.

In the 1400 block of George Washington Memorial Highway A man was observed on June 8 at 10:35 p.m. near the northbound side of the Coleman Bridge. When contact was made, he had slurred speech, emitted the smell of an alcoholic beverage and was unsteady on his feet. Joseph Richard Prete, 56, of Urbanna, was arrested on a charge of public swearing or intoxication. In the 14800 block of George Washington Memorial Highway A report was received of a petit larceny that occurred on June 9 at the Glenn's 7-Eleven when a customer left his money clip containing less than $200 on the counter after making a purchase.

GLOUCESTER — Sheriff Darrell Warren faces perennial challenger Clarence Bowser in Tuesday's election, while Gloucester County School Board Member Carla Hook is running unopposed to retain her seat. Warren, running as a Republican, was second-in-command when he succeeded former Sheriff Steve Gentry as sheriff upon Gentry's resignation in February. Gentry cited personal reasons as stepping down, in just the second month of his second term as the county's top law enforcement officer.

GLOUCESTER - Several years ago, Gloucester County changed how it contributed funding to the county's two fire and rescue departments. According to Nickie Champion, Gloucester's director of financial services, the departments used to make capital requests to the county to consider for funding. "It was later determined that it would make more sense to just make a lump sum appropriation to the local departments to incorporate into their budgets," Champion said. This year, Gloucester has budgeted $1,877,524 for fire and rescue - $911,974 for Gloucester Fire and Rescue and $965,550 for Abingdon Fire and Rescue.

GLOUCESTER - Susan Crockett says it is much easier to show rather than to explain how her solar powered home works. That's the idea of the 2014 Middle Peninsula Solar Tour set for Saturday, featuring seven sites in Gloucester County. The educational tour is a part of a national and regional event that also includes tours across Hampton Roads on the Peninsula, Southside and Eastern Shore. The Crocketts' home is one of four residences on the tour in Gloucester. Crockett and her husband, Tom, designed their 2,400-square-foot solar-powered home 30 years ago. "We were interested in the cost savings and helping the environment," Susan Crockett said.

GLOUCESTER – In 2012, Gloucester County established a capital improvement plan advisory committee to recommend a five-year plan for the Board of Supervisors. According to Nickie Champion, Gloucester's director of financial services, one of the first things the committee recommended was that the county find a dedicated source of funding for vehicle replacements. That was done by establishing a vehicle or equipment replacement fund, and this year, the county has budgeted $326,295 for that fund.

MATHEWS - Mathews County residents expressed their disapproval Tuesday night to the proposed update to the county's Floodplain Management Ordinance. Their comments forced the Board of Supervisors to take the proposal back to the drawing board. A packed house pushed the meeting from the historic courthouse to the middle school to accommodate the crowd. Once there, resident after resident expressed their concerns of the inclusion of an additional 1-foot freeboard requirement, adding a foot to the foundation of a house, in the ordinance.

MIDDLESEX – Emotions ran high in a Middlesex County courtroom Friday during a lengthy preliminary hearing for the four men charged in a double shooting that left a Gloucester County man dead and another man injured this summer. An altercation in the Middlesex Courthouse parking lot during a break in the court hearing delayed Judge Jeffrey Shaw's decision to certify charges against two of the men to a grand jury, which is expected to meet Monday. Deputies from the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office quickly dispersed the crowd and Virginia State Police came to monitor the parking lot for the remainder of the proceedings.

GLOUCESTER – Middlesex, Mathews and Gloucester counties, as well as the Town of West Point, all participate in the Middle Peninsula Regional Special Education Program. The program is for students who require extensive special education services under the category of multiple or severe disabilities, or autism. Gloucester County serves as the fiscal agent for the program and this year budgeted $707,056 for fiscal year 2015. According to Joanne Wright, director of budget and finance for Gloucester schools, $449,580 of that amount covers the tuition for Gloucester students.

GLOUCESTER — A proposed 2013-14 budget of $137.8 million for Gloucester County includes tax rate hikes of 4 cents for real estate and $1.95 for boats to help fund a 21 percent increase over this year's spending plan. County Administrator Brenda Garton presented her proposed budget to the Board of Supervisors at Tuesday night's meeting. It includes an increase in the real estate tax rate from 65 cents to 69 cents per $100 of assessed value. Although the personal property tax rate wouldn't change at $2.95 per $100 of assessed value, the tax rate for boats would increase from $1 to $2.95 per $100 of assessed value.

GLOUCESTER - Gloucester County's reigning top teacher Jennifer Worrell said she was stunned Wednesday morning to learn she has been named Region 3 Teacher of the Year. Worrell was surprised with the news in front of her fourth grade class at Petsworth Elementary School. "It's unexpected. It's a big surprise. It's definitely a good way to make somebody's Wednesday morning," Worrell said following the announcement by schools Superintendent Walter Clemons. "I know there are just tremendous people in this county that teach, just wonderful teachers, and wonderful teachers across the state so it's a big, big honor.

NEWPORT NEWS - Two lower court judges and one county's top prosecutor appear to be poised to ascend to vacant Circuit Court seats in Newport News, Gloucester and Isle of Wight. Several lawyers are still in the running for the two judicial openings that would then be created in lower courts. The General Assembly this week released the list of candidates who will be interviewed Wednesday for judicial vacancies around the state - giving a strong indication of who will get the jobs come the final votes on Thursday.